RMG workers block Ctg road protesting factory closure
170 out of 500 garment factories here were closed in the last two months due to lack of orders
Hundreds of aggrieved garment workers took to the street in the Chaktai area of Chattogram city on Thursday protesting the shutting down of their factory without any prior announcement.
Workers of Beep Apparels went to the factory around 8am and saw a 45-day lay-off notice hanging on the entrance.
Then, they blocked the road stretching from Firingi Bazar to the Shah Amanat Bridge, one of the entrances of the city protesting the factory closure and demanding their outstanding salaries and allowances.
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Superintendent of Police of Chattogram Industrial Police Mohammad Solaiman told The Business Standard, "The Beep Apparels authorities have announced a 45-day lay-off due to lack of orders from buyers, but the workers become aggrieved with the decision. Industrial Police are trying to control the situation."
Bakalia Police Station OC Abdur Rahim said, "Workers protested after the garment owner announced the closure of the factory. We are trying to convince them and disperse them from the street."
Not only Beep Apparels, but 20 other appeal units in Chattogram also have already verbally informed the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) of their decision to go on lay-off for 45 days.
Besides, 170 out of 500 garment factories in Chattogram have been closed in the last two months.
BGMEA Vice-President (Chattogram) Rakibul Alam Chowdhury told TBS, "For the last two months, many big garment factories have been informing us about going for a 45-day lay-off, while many factories leave workers for a week or more without informing the BGMEA."
According to garment owners, factories in Chattogram are closing down mainly due to two reasons -- lack of export orders, and if there are orders, buyers are not supplying raw materials due to its excessive price.
Alongside a decrease in export orders, finished garments worth Tk2,500 crores are stuck in 50 factories of Chattogram due to buyers not taking those, they added.
Syed Nazrul Islam, first vice-president of the BGMEA, told TBS, "The finished clothes that we have now are for summer season. But as winter is approaching in Europe, buyers are no longer buying summer clothes."
